Medical image processing apparatuses are used for acquiring images of internal structures of an object. Medical image processing apparatuses are non-invasive examination apparatuses that show structural details, internal tissues, and fluid flow of a human body. A user, such as a doctor, may examine a health state and diagnose a disease of a patient by using a medical image output by a medical image processing apparatus. Examples of such apparatuses may include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatuses, computed tomography (CT) apparatuses, X-ray apparatuses, and ultrasound apparatuses, and medical image processing apparatuses generate medical images by using captured image data.
CT apparatuses provide a cross-sectional image of an object and visualize the internal structures (e.g., organs such as a kidney, a lung, etc.) of the object in such a manner that the internal structures do not overlap each other unlike in the case of general X-ray apparatuses.
In order to diagnose blood vessel-related diseases such as coronary stenosis, cardiovascular diseases, and the like, contours of blood vessels need to be visualized precisely in images. Therefore, methods and apparatuses for processing medical images, which are capable of precisely extracting and representing contours of blood vessels, are necessary.